Wednesday evening at the CHIO Aachen, the floodlights are switched on, the Turkish Airlines-Prize of Europe begins. When the best horses and riders in the world are competing on the Holy Grass in the Main Stadium this year, it will be easier for blind and visually impaired people to take part in one of the most famous jumping classes on the equestrian sport circuit. Because for the first time the CHIO Aachen is also offering a professional audio description for this class.

This service entails offering blind and visually impaired people a description of what is happening. A speaker translates his impressions of the images in explanatory language. The team of HörMal Audiodeskription will describe two jumping competitions on that day. In addition to the Turkish Airlines-Prize of Europe in the evening, the inclusive offer will also be available for the Prize of StädteRegion Aachen in memory of Landrat Hermann-Josef Pütz in the afternoon. This will allow blind and visually impaired guests to experience the happenings up close and learn for instance whether a pole has fallen and how well the horse and rider are harmonising together.

A further highlight is a guided tour of the grounds through the CHIO Aachen Village with its approx. 230 exhibitors. Here, HörMal will provide an audio description about the horse and its equipment for all blind or visually impaired interested parties. For example, the participants will be allowed to touch bridles and saddles and will have these explained to them. Furthermore the participants will learn interesting details about the stadium and about the history of the CHIO Aachen.

“Implementing audio descriptions is an important step on the way to more accessibility and an integral part of our overall strategy for social sustainability,” emphasized Philip Erbers, board member of the Aachen-Laurensberger Rennverein. To enable more people to participate in the World Equestrian Festival, the audio description offer is to be further expanded over the coming years.

All information and tickets are available here. (LINK: https://www.hoermal-audio.org/events/chio-aachen-mit-audiodeskription/)